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The Quarterback of Concussion Management

Successful teams have one thing in common – a leader who guides all members toward a shared goal. A good example is a quarterback who leads his team to victory.

At Good Shepherd Rehabilitation’s Concussion Management Program, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) physicians guide a team of rehabilitation specialists in evaluating and treating concussion patients. The goal is to relieve our patient’s post-concussion pain and restore their physical and cognitive function.

Rehabilitation physicians are medical doctors who have completed training in the medial specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation. In addition to diagnosing and treating pain, rehabilitation physicians restore maximum function lost through injury, illness or disabling conditions.

Dr. Klitsch leads a team of Good Shepherd concussion experts who include: clinical neuropsychologists, licensed psychologists and physical, occupational and speech therapists. Specialized programs used with patients in the Concussion Management Program include the ImPACT computerized testing instrument to establish a cognitive baseline, headache therapy, vision therapy and Interactive Metronome to assess and treat processing, timing and motor planning skills.

“As the concussion team leader, I continuously adjust the plan of treatment for each patient based on information from the patient, therapists and other physician specialists,” says Dr. Klitsch. “The goal is to help patients who come to us with significant problems leave the program free of any symptoms.”